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This Morning Ritual Could Help You Prevent Ageing

If you're a coffee drinker, your favourite way to kick off the day could be the secret to better ageing. While there's long been a debate about whether coffee is good or bad for our health—and just how much we should be consuming—a new study, highlighted by Time and published in the journal Nature Medicine, has uncovered some encouraging findings that will have you reaching a little more eagerly for your morning cup of joe.

The study, led by David Furman, consulting associate professor at the Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection at Stanford University, finds that coffee drinkers have a one-up on non-drinkers when it comes to inflammation—a leading cause of diseases related to ageing. Furman and his team analysed blood samples from 100 individuals, young and old, and found that the older set tended to show more activity in inflammation-related genes—which are associated with chronic diseases of ageing like diabetes, heart problems, and hypertension. Older individuals who showed lower levels of these factors were better protected against inflammation and also all drank caffeine regularly. "The more caffeine people consumed, the more protected they were against a chronic state of inflammation," says Furman.

While we're not saying to down coffee throughout the day, this study does allow coffee lovers to enjoy a second or third cup sans guilt.